Captain Ed is a father and grandfather living in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, a native Californian who moved to the North Star State because of the weather. He lives with his wife Marcia, also known as the First Mate, their two dogs, and frequently watch their granddaughter Kayla, whom Captain Ed calls The Little Admiral... [read more]

Thomas Lipscomb breaks another major development in the Chicago Sun-Times this morning, and the Kerry campaign may need to do more backpedaling as a result. Former Secretary of the Navy and 9/11 Commission member John Lehman denies ever signing the modified citation Kerry's site has prominently displayed for months, and states categorically that he didn't write the additional language describing the engagement:

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman has no idea where a Silver Star citation displayed on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign Web site came from, he said Friday. The citation appears over Lehman's signature.

"It is a total mystery to me. I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," he said.

The additional language varied from the two previous citations, signed first by Adm. Elmo Zumwalt and then Adm. John Hyland, which themselves differ. The new material added in the Lehman citation reads in part: "By his brave actions, bold initiative, and unwavering devotion to duty, Lieutenant (jg) Kerry reflected great credit upon himself...."

Asked how the citation could have been executed over his signature without his knowledge, Lehman said: "I have no idea. I can only imagine they were signed by an autopen." The autopen is a device often used in the routine execution of executive documents in government.

Kerry senior adviser Michael Meehan could not be reached for comment on Kerry's records.

So now we have more than just a few disgruntled Viet Nam veterans disputing Kerry's narrative and records. We've now added a former Secretary of the Navy, a man whose bipartisan credentials were sufficient for Congress to get him named to the 9/11 Commission in disputing Kerry's version of events. How will the Kerry campaign react to this? Can they paint Lehman as a partisan hack after his painfully obsequious behavior towards the Democrats during the commission hearings?

Just when I think this story may lose momentum, it just grows new legs. The Torricelli option continues to beckon the Democrats the longer Kerry refuses to release all the records and put an end to all the speculation -- assuming that the records haven't already been doctored, as Lehman's statement today seems to indicate.

Trackback Pings

» John Lehman and Kerry's Silver Star from The Politburo Diktat
Captain's Quarters Thomas Lipscomb breaks another major development in the Chicago Sun-Times this morning, and the Kerry campaign may need to do more backpedaling as a result. Former Secretary of the Navy and 9/11 Commission member John Lehman denies e... [Read More]

» Who is left? from Pirates! Man Your Women!
Captain's Quarters keeps us again up to date on the Swiftboat contraversies. I still would like to know what records are available via FOIA and which are only available after the 180 request is processed.Thomas Lipscomb breaks another major developmen... [Read More]

» Medalgate from MartiniPundit
Hot on the heels of Kerry's first purple heart actually being from unintentionally self-inflicted wounds not received in combat, his silver star is called into question: Former Navy Secretary John Lehman has no idea where a Silver Star citatio... [Read More]

Tracked on August 28, 2004 2:37 PM

» Kerry's Silver Star exaggeration from Brain Shavings
John Kerry's web site includes a copy of his DD-214 (his discharge form), on which we find an award called a "Silver Star with combat V." The trouble is, there's no such thing. Also, there are three versions of Kerry's... [Read More]

Tracked on August 28, 2004 3:25 PM

» Lying is bad, mmm-kay from mypetjawa v. 2.0 (beta)
A guy get's fired because he lied about an affair he had ten years ago so he must be lying about John Kerry too, right? But I thought lying about extra-marital affairs was the one kind of lie that was... [Read More]

Tracked on August 28, 2004 6:46 PM

» Kerry's Resume Padding from The Key Monk
I know that the military vets will decry Kerry's self-attribution of the Combat V to his Silver Star but this is a point of military minutiae that civilians won't get. More important from a political and personal standpoint is the doubling of the camp... [Read More]